Broadcom Limited

Saving $10M while improving collaboration

PROBLEM

The IT status quo of multiple on-premises file servers was jeopardizing Broadcom Limited’s ability to collaborate quickly and securely. Competing and growing rapidly in the semiconductor business meant the company needed a centralized content foundation that could scale quickly.

SOLUTION

By moving to Cloud Content Management on Box, Broadcom Limited was able to introduce streamlined collaborative file sharing integrated with the rest of the company’s IT ecosystem, including other best-of-breed tools like Oracle and Google. A vendor portal built on Box allows the company to onboard vendors more quickly and easily across locations.

OUTCOME

Broadcom cut current and future IT costs by $10 million over a five-year term by ditching legacy systems and moving to Box. Cloud Content Management also increased Broadcom Limited’s speed to market via better visibility into the manufacturing process.

Technology is obviously critical in the semiconductor business. And when it comes to productivity and competitive advantage, the technology behind the scenes is as important as the product out in the market.

Broadcom Limited has a distributed semiconductor manufacturing business dispersed across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Historically, the company maintained multiple file servers in multiple locations. Without onsite staff, the upgrades, backups, and disaster-recovery services of this setup were time-consuming and costly. Plus, annual costs and capital expenditures had risen to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years as a result of increased usage and accumulation of file-storage servers.

Broadcom Limited needed a cloud-based solution to address two critical needs: PC backup and collaborative file sharing. The organization also wanted a solution that would integrate with its existing SaaS technologies, including G Suite, Salesforce, and DocuSign.

Enterprise security, aligned philosophy

Broadcom Limited initially went with Cloud Content Management on Box because of its enterprise security, auditing, and monitoring capabilities. The company’s IT team rolled out Box to 3,600 employees, migrated 18 million files from its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, and eliminated all of its Windows-based servers. IT also built an external vendor portal on Box to onboard vendors in multiple locations and always share the most up-to-date contracts and information.

Implementation was simple, and employees and IT were able to install, deploy, maintain, and use Box with minimal training. Box quickly became the standard to secure, access, and share files across the board.

But Box wasn’t just a good fit for practical reasons. It also aligned with Broadcom Limited’s IT philosophy. As Andy Nallappan, Vice President and CIO, puts it: "Box fits the '3S-3C' model: Simplicity, scalability, and security. Cloud-based, clean desks, and current."

In the semiconductor business, a content strategy must be scalable to be truly worthy. Broadcom Limited put Box to the test when its acquisition of LSI closed in 2014 and all 6,000 LSI employee accounts were migrated to Box. All accounts were online and ready to go the day the deal closed, proving that Box could scale quickly and easily with Broadcom Limited's growth, without incurring capital expenditures.

Within two years of its initial deployment, Broadcom Limited had deployed Box to 80% of its employees and consultants worldwide. Through wall-to-wall deployment, the company realized a savings of $10 million in current and future IT costs over a five-year term.

Broadcom Limited also integrated Box as the Cloud Content Management platform behind its Oracle ERP solution, saving the company $100,000. Moving forward, it plans to use Box as the underlying content layer behind its SaaS business applications, too.

An integrated IT ecosystem with a higher ROI

On top of all of these concrete cost benefits, Broadcom Limited found additional returns on its investment, including employee productivity and satisfaction.

Box simplified collaboration when sharing content internally or externally. Employees could access critical documents from any device, at any time. Box also eliminated the need for email attachments, with its secure shared links, and ensured everyone was always working with the most up-to-date version of any file.

With 24/7 access to important files, notes, and approvals, there was zero down time during critical collaboration times. Real work was done — and it was done quickly and efficiently.

With Box, Broadcom Limited now has one central repository for all of its content that integrates across its IT ecosystem, including Oracle and Google. IT also has improved disaster avoidance capabilities, with instant backup and unlimited version history of any file. Cutting costs was a major benefit of the switch to Cloud Content Management. But a best-of-breed technology stack with Box as the content layer has also helped amp up productivity so Broadcom Limited can get semiconductors to market faster — a boost that ultimately benefits everyone.